Tigranes II

Tigranes II the Great: name of an Armenian king, ruled from c.95 to c.55.

Main deeds

• Born c.140
• c.120: taken hostage by the Parthians
• c.95: Released after ceding "seventy valleys"; Tigranes becomes king of Armenia; he marries Cleopatra, daughter of king Mithridates VI of Pontus
• 93: Annexation of Sophene
• 91: After the death of Mithradates II of Parthia, Tigranes reconquers the "seventy valleys", and adds Osroene (Edessa), Nisibis, Gordyene, Atropatene, and Adiabene
• 83: Conquers the remains of the Seleucid Empire. Its last king, Philip I Philadelphus, remains as ruler in Cilicia (his relative Antiochus X Eusebes Philopator may already have been dethroned earlier).
• Founder of several towns called Tigranocerta (like the one in the valley of the Nymphius and the one in the extreme northeast of Armenia)
• 75: Death of Philip I Philadelphus
• His intended successor, Antiochus XIII Asiaticus, visits Rome
• 74/73: Tigranes II the Great of Armenia conquers the remains of the Seleucid Empire.
• 71: After setbacks during the Third Mithridatic War, Mithridates VI of Pontus flees to his son-in-law, who refuses to extradite him to the Romans.
• 69: the Roman commander Lucullus attacks Armenia and defeats Tigranes at Tigranocerta: Lucullus appoints Antiochus XIII Asiaticus as ruler of Syria
• 68: Second Armenian defeat at Artaxata
• 68/67: Tigranes loses Nisibis to the Romans, but he is saved by the recall of Lucullus

• 

  Tigranes' son Tigranes flees to Lucullus' successor, Pompey the Great
• King Tigranes surrenders to Pompey and is forced to give up most of his conquests; in return, he is recognized as friend and ally (amicus et socius) of the Roman people
• c.55: Death

Sources:

• Appian of Alexandria's Mithridatic wars